Side Two Songtext

von Sonic Youth

00: 00 - 00: 40
The first 40 seconds are dedicated to some vehicle chatter.
Here's a rough transcription:
Woman: On the right!
Kim: Go get hamburgers.
Thurston: Right?
Man: Yeah, let's go.
Man 2: Did I hear Kim say hamburgers?
Lee: Put the defrost on...
Thurston 2: Cruisin' for some McReagan burgers...
Man 2: Forget it man, I'm not going to McDonald's, that stuff's
Fucking gross!
Lee: It is.
Lee: Bob, you got fog, you got heavy fog.
On the outside, you want me to brush it off here?
Bob?: Left? Ronald Reagan fries...
?: Hey Jon, I'll give you all the lira in my pocket if
You eat a hamburger.
00: 41 - 01: 15
Aimless noise panned from speaker to speaker
01: 16 - 01: 32
A very brief excerpt from what appears to be Shaking Hell.
01: 33 - 01: 51
An equally brief excerpt from Brother James.
01: 52 - 09: 00
Early American/Scream Tape
Nothing but a savage blur
In your face, in your land
The weight of you is greater than
Forgot my pride
Forgot my side
Don't bother to leave
There's no room outside
Your sense of pride
Nothing here but a savage blur
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
09: 01 - 10: 12
Burning Spear
10: 13 - 13: 04
Kill Yr Idols
I don't know why
You wanna impress Christgau
Ah let that shit die
And find out the new goal
Kill yr idols
Sonic death
It's the end of the world
Your confusion is sex
Kill yr idols
Sonic death
It's the end of the world
Your confusion is sex
13: 05 - 14: 34
Tacked on afterwards is the similar sounding section from
Confusion is Next, slightly spliced up.The song ends,
The crowd cheers, and Lee begins retuning his guitar
While Kim drones her low E.
14: 35 - 15: 12
This is somebody repetitiously pounding a single chord,
After which Thurston announces We want electricity!,
A statement which later became the title of a July '93
Sonic Exhibit in Europe. Total length: 0: 37
15: 13 - 17: 24
This is another unknown song segment.
It almost sounds like one gtr is going thru a wah or filter effect,
But it's hard to say.
This song has not yet appeared on any surfaced SY concert
Recording, and likely dates back to 1981 (typically SY kept
Everything they wrote in '82 and '83, but I could see something
Like this skronky number not making it past the embryonic
Stage).
17: 25 - 17: 46
This sounds like a traditional walkman blare,
Chime loops or the like.
17: 47 - 18: 32
Another version of Kill Yr Idols, beginning from the song's breakdown.
18: 33 - 20: 13
Here we hear Thurston banging out his opening chord to
The World Looks Red, while Lee gets his screwdriver in place.
Thurston says We're Sonic Youth, this song is called The World
Looks Red.
This is almost certainly taken from the beginning of a 1983
Show. The track fades just as the bassline begins.
A minute and forty seconds of pre-song preparation,
And then we only get half a second of music.
20: 14 - 21: 49
Apparently they agreed -- the exact thing happens with
Shaking Hell next. It's not as dramatically long,
And you get to hear more of the song,
Plus the commentary is hilarious, so it's a little more tolerable.
Lee introduces the song: This next song's called Shaking Hell.
Someone does something to provoke the remark
Suck my dick, asshole from Thurston,
And as the band starts the song,
Lee explains: That's an American expression, 'Suck my dick'.
Sadly the song is cut off pretty quickly.
21: 50 - 22: 28
However, it borders on offensive when next we're treated to
Thurston's repeated open bass notes, flavored with audience
Participation, catcall style.
As soon as the opening riff to Making the Nature Scene starts,
We're once again cut off...
22: 29 - 23: 25
...and it's more chimey noise,
Either the zither or a screwdriver guitar.
23: 26 - 24: 14
Hear we get the intro harmonics of I Don't Want to Push It,
One of the rarer moments on this album.
They're quickly cut out to the song's droning outro.
Unfortunately not much of this rarely performed track appears.
Actually, the song appeared from some of the band's first shows
Up until the last Eurotour in '83,
So it wasn't all that obscure at the time.
24: 15 - 25: 09
This is the coda to She's in a Bad Mood.
Such an excellent song, it's too bad they didn't elect to include
The whole thing on here.
The live performances are particularly enhanced by the sounds
At the end, the aforementioned flute style hums.
I don't know if they're courtesy of a tape or some guitar
Handlings, but I dig them.
25: 10 - 25: 58
More subtly mixed/panned ambient noise.
25: 59 - 27: 37
This is the final unknown song on this release.
This song is also a contender for being the mysterious
Destroyer. It plods along with atonal chord thrash and a
Steady, commanding drumbeat.
27: 38 - 28: 18
More solid white noise echovox amp drone.
28: 19 - 29: 31
The end of this side, and the album, features an excerpt of
Thurston talking to the crowd after the November 15th, 1982
Raleigh, NC show on the Savage Blunder tour with Swans.
I Wanna Be Yr Dog on Confusion is Sex was taken from this
Show as well.
"Buy records by Sonic Youth or Swans, um, they're at the door.
They're really cheap, they're like $3.50, $5 [mumbles]"
Thurston mutters.
Someone in the crowd suggests
"Let's hear another one by Sonic Youth,"
A notion that is met with agreement by the seemingly few
People in attendance,
But Thurston insists:
"No, everything's fucked up. "
The crowd boos and persists, and Thurston applauds them and
Comments on the crowd in Chapel Hill the night before:
"This is actually the best crowd we've had since... uh... we
Played at Cat's Cradle last night and there were uh, I think. 3 people there...
It was good! "
"We're appreciative, play some more!" somebody shouts.
More whistling and applause follows,
And Thurston announces:
"We could have a Sonic Youth and Swans jamfest,"
Which the crowd finds very appealing. And the album ends.
COMPLETE SONG ALERT!
The following songs appear in full on this side of Sonic Death:
Early American -- 01: 52 - 09: 00
Kill Yr Idols -- 10: 13 - 13: 04